CREATE • TOGETHER — BlackMan Brewing

Our brewer is nomadic working in residency sharing time and space at host breweries. Barrett Tillman is intentional about holding space for natural fermentation. We curate age statement beers using whats available to us blending from existing stock then refermenting. Our bottles mature with yeast cultured from our travels. We are artistic. The project is personal. The natural intimacy we love about wildcrafting are the rewards of trial or error. We are focused on maintaining mixed culture fermentation with a direct-to-consumer release schedule. We invite you to join us for Saison Sunday a hosted group tasting and collaboration event.

A traveling brewer inspired by nature our artisan ales condition with native yeast in respect to time and place.

What happened to domestic arts? The common work of people moving with dignity. The mundane peace found in crafting. The shear excellence of practicing. Making handmade goods and bespoke well-crafted wares. Great things made for exclusive markets.

I find solace in fermentation. The craft beer industry is faded. Lost its shine. I find myself dreaming. Standing still to wonder. Disoriented.

I've asked myself these questions: why beer, why yeast, why fermentation? I've not lost the humble art of small batch brewing. I learned the craft at home in my garage. Becoming familiar with yeast handling, bottle conditioning, and beers styled with rustic flavors. I found simple wild fermentations given time transform beers into creative expressions. Affirming dryness. Clarifying crispness. Beers that shimmer with nuance are not overwhelmingly single-ended. Wild ferments in moderate portions often lean toward high acidity. These days I prefer rustic ales with useful characteristics. Wild yeast tamed like a sourdough loaf. Artisanal reflection crafted by baker’s hands. The slow rise of craftsmanship is maintained by continual effort. Mundane labor honed into great skill. Mastery is affirmation.

The Saison Sunday series of beers is curated from exceptionally well-cellared bottles. Carried forward yeast lees or returning beers brewed in collaboration. Saison Sunday series reminds me to be intentional. I understand my reach is limited. I am making rustic ales for an esoteric crowd to enjoy. They like me are into exploration. We are seekers surprised by discovery.

The collaboration project is personal. Not focused on excess, but simply a way forward. The work holds space for creative expression. To create. To continue. To practice. Excellence in the mundane is self-mastery. Spiritual affirmation.

Curating beer for sipping on Saison Sunday offers a healing disconnect. A time for self-care and inner personal story. Saison Sundays remind me that excellence of your own choosing reflects who you are. Mastery as a skill and not a destination. All life is rested peacefully in soil tombs your set of skills will expire. I owe a debt of gratitude to the people here. The instructors who have shaped me and those who have moved on. I am learning to let go. Allow others to have the same nomadic freedom. The people who walk with you traverse this life and the next.

I've cellared beers in curated spaces in the galleries of production breweries and in spaces that coexist. I consider this my community. The full person. The dreamer. The stranger. The wanderlust. I've made yeast my business starting with a collection of wild yeast and so learning to be with nature. I think about fermentation often. A few cultures have been with me over a decade. We have changed. Slowly forming. Maturing overtime. Bottle conditioning finished beer brings new life to new project. I am currently blending fermented beer at the brewery with my collection of yeast and microflora. The project is about continuance. Taking the time to focus on simple things. Domestic arts. The work is very labor-intensive. Rustic ales require an abundance of time, great hygiene, care and attention. Cellarmanship is the slow advancement of an intention. A good cellar must be maintained, things need to be moved, racked, tasted, or discarded. The work requires an honest approach with intentional navigation of the flavors.

I've recorded change. Like a diary of personal encounters, the notes are surprising. Things do not go as planned often our loss is great. Esoteric flavors are welcomed. Bio-transformations drop out and layer the beer as it matures. Not because it's bad but because those flavors in the moment, need to gas off. Release. Further time is needed to reach a simpler form. Rustic beer changes to bring out less of its character to strip it down for renewed strength. The work is often to pull down the hop characteristics. Gravity to tame the bitterness to soothe a stubborn soul. More oxygen ingress. More acidity. Time for off gassing. The fusel alcohols of warm fermentation breath from barrel. Even its cellular structure softens warn crystalized precursors of tannins and enzymes are at work. Some yeast go the full cycle of life and death releasing their character into solution.

The road to bottling is different, each beer has its own signature. Its own persona. And history. New life begins and so the cellar holds a mystery unknown. Things retire sometimes before expectation like growing old with bad knees. They function but they also ache. The pain is in the body. Strength is lost. Intensity no longer remains. Wisdom is gained from personal perspective. Through the beer alone.

As consumers the cellar aged series is an invitation into curiosity. We are examining flavor development and signature expression earmarked by time, place, and story.

BLKMAN Starter Cultures

Our collection of yeast with bacteria is available in pitchable units for desirable flavor development.

Mixed Saison Lees
Intended for beers that are effervescent dry and ever changing a blend containing parts unknown.

Gesho Forest Lees
A fan-favorite intended for long-term development. Use to condition rustic ales with grounding earth tones with resting acidity.

MVP Saison Lees
Use to condition crisp rustic ales with smooth edges notes of lemongrass and faded herbal tea.

Saison Sunday — Cellar Aged Series

Artisan ales finished with BLKMAN starter cultures. Bottle conditioned for long-term keeping available for purchase exclusively at the brewery. Stay tuned for scheduled events, listening sessions, and style talks curated by BlackMan Brewing.

Saison Sundays are filled with conversation, music, and friends. I am a brewer working with yeast and wild fermentation. The tasting group has access to upcoming beer releases featuring rustic ales I've created or collected. The brewery hosted tasting events happen when beers are released.

The concept of critical listening is taken from Hi-Fi audio meetings with a group of audiophile enthusiasts. We meet monthly to share new music, enjoy analog sound, and chat all things vintage. Private gatherings are hosted by request.

Send a message to visit or request to join. - Barrett Tillman